Let's Put the Right Into the Bill of Rights

One has to admire the unwavering consistency of the Bush Administration's tenacity in removing the few remaining vestiges of our freedom. Plus, with so many new restrictions created since January, 2001, it's high time to update our antiquated Bill of Rights.

President Bush did business with Osama's father and brother-in-law

In 1988 Bush owned an oil company, Harken Energy, when his father was president. One major investor in his company was Osama bin Laden's father, Salem bin Laden from Saudia Arabia. Another major investor was Khaled bin Mahfouz, who is married to Osama's sister. Mahfouz also was a 20% owner of BCCI, a bank that was involved in the largest corruption scandal in banking history in the early 1990's.

Thank You for the Extra Time, Mr. President

Bush is thoughtful enough to wait until after the holidays to demolish Iraq. This should give us enough time to install a rudimentary fallout shelter in our backyard and survive the terrorist responses.

Fighting Back Against a Convicted Felon

As the Mercury News details, the Internet is flexing its muscles. Convicted felon, and head of the national Office of Information Awareness, John Poindexter is the latest target.

Are Your Kids Preparing for Standardized Testing?

Many of us have youngsters preparing for standardized testing. This is a thoughtful analysis of the incentives for, and the inadequate consequences of, cheating by schools on these tests.

SPLIT DECISION

It's too bad that the US Supreme Court coudn't have made as much of an effort in the decision regarding the 2000 presidential election as this judge did in the case of Barry Bonds' home run ball.

$ for CEO's

Top company executives seem to get a bit more than their fair share(s).

DAM THOSE MISSILES

The problem with building such expensive, advanced technology as a missile defense system like this is that, as with most all new technology today, it's outdated before you remove it from the box. Some student from D'Iberville Middle School in Harrison County will post on the Internet a way to beat it. Let's try helping our "enemies" with their problems, thus forming strong relationships, rather than making them think we're afraid of them. Gee, then we would need to invest in dam-building companies instead of military contractors. Wait... dam-builders are having their own problems. Okay, then, maybe hospitals?

Daniel Franklin describes why he thinks the ACLU should consider a new domestic intelligence agency as the lesser of two evils.

This is a day late, but the impact is profound, shades of Japanese internment during WWII. Did Ashcroft really think that terrorists would show up? Instead, we are once again prejudging and mistreating our law-abiding guests.

Don't Forget

We shouldn't be forgetting this remarkable item, the Saudi/CrawfordRanch/Bush/9-11-hijacker connection.

Matt Bivens explains:
"For those keeping track, this year's $396 billion is more than three times the combined defense spending of Russia, China, Iraq, Iran, North Korea, Libya, Cuba, Sudan and Syria. America outspends Russia, the second-biggest defense spender, by a factor of six."

Imagine what just 20% of that amount could do for education, welfare, healthcare for the poor, etc... Could the military survive on a budget of only 317 billion?

DROP & COVER

Today, right now, the United States is at its highest risk ever for a nuclear attack.

Sorry, Honey, I Can't Take Off Work to Help

The Bush Administration is retreating on a progressive family care issue: "The U.S. Department of Labor announced it would rescind a Clinton Administration regulation that gave states the option of using Unemployment Insurance (UI) funds to provide pay to workers who take time off to care for a newborn child."